THE LEDGER-STAR 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, August 22, 1994                TAG: 9408220208
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

ENROLLMENT AT VIRGINIA'S ALL-WOMEN COLLEGES SOARS

Virginia's all-women colleges are seeing a dramatic increase in enrollment and applications, something the schools say was unexpected.

Enrollment at Hollins College for the coming year is up 30 percent from last year, and applications are up 17 percent to a record high 704 for the 280 freshmen slots.

``I've been suspicious as to whether this was a blip or a trend,'' said Jane Margaret O'Brien, president of the school near Roanoke. But reviewing the data has convinced her that it is a trend.

Freshmen enrollment is up nearly 20 percent at Sweet Briar College outside Amherst, to 189 students. And it's almost 16 percent higher at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, though officials note that applications for this year's 203-student freshman class inexplicably declined.

At Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, applications have swelled by 28 percent to 832. Freshman enrollment has increased almost 13 percent with 288 new students this fall.

The sudden popularity of women's colleges follows years of stagnant or declining enrollments. Since 1960, more than two-thirds of the nation's women's colleges have gone coed or shut their doors. And with the survival of some of the remaining 83 schools in doubt, this fall's enrollments took many school officials by surprise.

School administrators say that part of the increase may be the ``Hillary factor.'' The first lady is a graduate of the all-women Wellesley College.

``She's so different,'' Ms. O'Brien said of the first lady's policy-shaping status. ``To understand why she's so comfortable in her role, you look to her background.''

A number of studies have shown that women's colleges are producing more Ph.D. recipients, especially in the sciences, than their coeducational counterparts.

Statistics showing the success of women's college graduates in the business world impressed Marla Snitkin, a 17-year-old Niantic, Conn., student who will be heading to Hollins as a freshman next month.

``All the other (schools) were very impersonal and very big. I didn't know what kind of education I'd be receiving there,'' she said. ``At Hollins, everyone was friendly and very interested in me .... It seemed like a great place to grow. It seemed easier to achieve your goals at a woman's school.''

KEYWORDS: COLLEGE

by CNB